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2015 AUSTRALIAN GP: LEWIS HAMILTON MAKES HISTORY

Lewis Hamilton put in a controlled drive to win the opening round of the 2015 Formula One World Championship, finishing just over a second ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg, who handed Mercedes a dominant first one-two finish of the season. Sebastian Vettel finished third, 33 seconds behind the Mercedes drivers, to hand Ferrari its first podium finish since Hungary last year and claimed his first appearance on the podium since Japan 2014.

Race day began in eventful style, as just an hour before the race Valtteri Bottas was ruled out, the Finn being deemed unfit to race due to a back injury sustained in qualifying. Williams reported that Bottas had suffered has a very small tear in the annular part of a disc in his lower back and FIA official ruled that he should not start. The incidents mounted in the build up to the start when the McLaren of Kevin Magnussen and the Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat expired on the way to the grid.

Rosberg kept Hamilton honest, pushing to the last to finish just over a second behind the world champion, who took his 34th career win. With Vettel third, Massa took fourth ahead of compatriot Nasr, while Ricciardo salvaged some pride for Red Bull Racing with sixth place ahead of Hulkenberg. Sainz tried to cling on to eighth place but his tyres were deteriorating quickly and on lap 56 he was passed by Ericsson. Perez took the final point on offer, while Jenson Button, the last finisher, completed a race distance for Honda-powered McLaren in 11th place.